


Take Off Those Rose-Tinted Glasses

by blanketboy



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-03
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:40:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27856097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blanketboy/pseuds/blanketboy
Summary: Lucia Noceda, 19, currently studies in a nearby community college and lives in awful conditions with her boss, and partner in crime, Edalyn Clawthorne. Life begins to sway into motion when she meets Amelia Blight, a 19-year-old barista working in a small local coffee shop,  who teaches her to not view the people who hurt her with rose-tinted glasses.The story is based on @swiss.sides' (please follow them on Instagram, they're great) sibling au for Dana Terrace's beta designs.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 62





	1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

"Luz, not to break your little 14-year-old heart but"

...

"Fanfiction is kinda, **very** weird."

Luz let out a huge gasp of disgust and betrayal through the other line. She started complaining and whining about how her big sister thinks her fanfictions are weird!

"Hey! Calm down, jesus. It's weird but do what you want I guess." Lucia chuckled at her little sister's reaction to her stance on Luz's little fanfictions she's currently been reading.

"That's what I thought!" Luz cheerfully exclaimed from the other line, while giggling happily.

"Anyways, tell me about Hecate's character development-" Lucia was immediately cut off by the sound of Eda, the 40-year-old con-woman she lives with and works for because she can't afford at least a small, shitty apartment near her campus. I mean, even the small, shitty apartments far away from campus are too expensive.

"Kiddo, it's 8 am. Maybe you should get the fuck outta here and go to campus." Eda groggily said as she sips her morning coffee while her black husky puppy, King, is standing right beside her.

_Fuck._

"Luz, I'll call you later tonight, alright? Bye!" Lucia, unfortunately, had to immediately end her call. She's late to class. Again! She quickly grabs her green jacket, red beanie, and black ripped pants, frantically trying to wear them properly. A quick look in the mirror and some minor fixes for her hair that isn't hidden in her beanie here and there. She quickly grabs her worn-out black backpack, wears her shoes, grabs her longboard, then dashes out of her crummy apartment.

"Geez. That kid needs to set her alarms." Eda looked over at the front door and locked it. She looks around and sees the keys Lucia always forgets, hung on the wall.

"Ugh. I swear to God this kid would've been dead if I didn't let her live with me."

The breeze was enough to calm down her nerves in the meantime. School is normally just a 10-minute walk away, so she chose to bring her longboard this time to minimize those 10 minutes into, hopefully, just 5 minutes. Not gonna lie, Lucia is not a bad student. She's heavily determined to study her interests, especially since this is college now. Middle school up until high school was a living hell, seeing that you can't really pick and choose what you want to study. But this is college now. She can choose what she wants to learn about instead of wasting her life away on information she doesn't need or care about. Sadly, Lucia is just very disorganized and messy. So time schedules and routines aren't really her cup of tea.

_Finally, I arrived at campus._

Lucia rushes into her first class, sweat still occasionally dripping from her forehead. Upon seeing her grumpy and old professor, she lets out a huff as the said professor looks at her menacingly.

_Crap. Is it because I'm late again?_

"Care to explain why you're late, **again** , Miss Noceda?"

_Yep. It's because I'm late again._

"I..." Her grip tightens on the hem of her jacket while trying to think of a believable excuse on why she's been late for the 3rd time this week.

_I woke up late? No. Too boring._

_The goddamn dog peed on me as I was leaving? No, no. Too overused._

_The fanfiction Luz was reading was actually interesting and I wanted to listen more?-_

"Nevermind." The professor said sternly, now facing the whiteboard he has been writing on for, probably, the past few 20 minutes.

Lucia sticks her tongue out in annoyance and slightly wobbles to search for a seat. Luckily, this class doesn't really have that many students, so it's easier to find a spot where she can be alone.

After classes have ended, Lucia is seen sitting in the library. She's been texting her friend, Wionna, who used to be one of her classmates until she moved schools. Lucia never forgave her for that.

_classes ended :) where do u wanna meet up?_

_i'll meet u by ur apartment complex in an hour._

_alright_

_see ya there._

_\--------------_

"Hey, Lucia." Wionna greeted her, reaching out her hand to shake. A chuckle escaped her mouth while a small smirk was seen across her pale face.

"Ew, Wionna. Too formal." Lucia smacks Wionna's hand away while displaying a face of disgust.

The two women proceeded to enter the grim and sad looking apartment complex, searching for Eda's building number. When Lucia finally spots the number '230', she knocks loudly on the door.

"Eda! Let us in!" Lucia yelled, not worrying if Eda's neighbors complained. After a couple of quiet seconds, the door is slowly opened by Eda herself. She hasn't changed out of her ragged, desaturated pajamas, which isn't really a surprise.

"Well, shit, kid. Stop being so loud. Will it hurt ya to just bring your keys?" Eda asked as she yawns and rubs her eyelids.

"Sorry, Eda. I forgot to bring them-"

"Again." Eda cut her off while rubbing her temple.

"Heh, yeah. Again." Lucia chuckled, then proceeded to hop on the old leather couch in the sad yellow-ish painted living room, reaching for a pack of cigarettes Eda leaves on the coffee table, lighting one up, and bringing them to her lips.

...

"Hi, Eda." Wionna slightly raised her hand. Eda squinted her eyes and walked away from her.

"Please don't be too noisy, alright? And clean up if y'all are gonna make a mess." Then she closed the door to her bedroom, bringing King along with her.

Wionna sat slightly beside Lucia. Lucia offered her a cigarette, but she refused.

"You know I don't smoke, right?" Wionna pushed her glasses to the bridge of her nose.

"I was just testing ya." Lucia jokes as she takes another hit of the cigarette.

Silence filled the room. Wionna scanned across the area. It was a relatively small living room. The sad, desaturated yellows made the room slightly eerie. There was a small ceiling fan above them, with only 2 out of 3 lights working. The coffee table in front of them had a pack of cigarettes, an ashtray that's almost full, an unlit candle, and a half-empty glass of water. The window was open for the smoke to go out, but honestly it still heavily smelled like cigarettes and...dog food?

Wionna proceeded to keep eyeing the place until she spotted a vinyl record player on a small table by the window. Lucia, who was still smoking the same cigarette, saw Wionna's intrigue.

"Yeah, that's new." Lucia said before Wionna could even ask.

"Did you guys steal that?" Wionna asked with a straight face.

"Pfft! What! No, we didn't." Lucia took a hit on her cigarette.

...

"Eda and I just pickpocketed someone and **then** we bought the vinyl record player." Wionna chuckled.

"That's a lot of pickpocketing."

"Eh, it was a long night."

Silence filled the room again.

"So..." Lucia broke the silence.

"I'll ask the generic question here. How's...Hexside?"

"Oh, I'm actually glad you asked." Wionna whipped out her phone from her pocket.

"There's this new girl in my class. She seemed cool so I talked to her." Wionna looks as if she's searching for a picture on her phone.

"Oh. So you're replacing me, huh?" Lucia chuckled, resting her chin on her palm and giving a teasing smirk.

"Heh." Wionna paused.

"Yeah, I am."

"Darn."

"Anyways, this is her." Wionna showed a picture of the aforementioned girl. Her skin was almost as pale as Wionna's, her hair was incredibly fluffy. They were dyed green, but her brown roots are showing on the front of her hair. The top part of her hair is tied up, while the rest is loose, reaching all the way down to her upper back. She had multiple black piercings on her ears, and was wearing eyeliner in the picture. Her eyes were this bright amber color.

_Pretty..._

"She looks like an asshole." Lucia blurted out.

"She kinda is, but she's cool. Or possibly because I'm already used to hanging out with assholes." Wionna jokes while she nudges Lucia.

"Hey! I am **not** an asshole!" Lucia objects.

"You literally just called someone an asshole based on their appearance," Wionna interjected.

...

Lucia slowly leans on the armrest of the couch, feeling defeated, and called out.

"Yes."

"I did do that."

_\--------------_

"Eda!" Lucia yelled from the living room. Winona and Lucia decided to roam around the area, since the living room was getting incredibly boring. And despite King's adorable antics, biting their legs and biting his own legs, it can still get pretty boring.

"¡Voy a salir! ¡Esta vez me llevo las llaves!" Wionna looked confused, but went back to texting someone on her phone.

"Kid, you know I don't understand a word you're saying, right?" Eda got out of her room, now wearing a white shirt that had a small black owl print, a bandana tied loosely around her neck, a long skirt that, _surprisingly_ , had pockets, her signature high heels, triangular shades, and her black bomber jacket.

"I said I'm going out and bringing the keys this time," Lucia repeated in English as she snags the room keys off the wall, shoving them into her jacket's pocket.

"Good. I'm taking King with me. Probably won't be home tonight."

"Alright."

Eda proceeds to leave with King, while the little pup is being carried by only one of her arms. Then, she shuts the door.

Silence filled the empty room once again.

...

"Why'd she shut the door?" Wionna looked at Lucia.

"What do you mean?"

"We're gonna leave anyway so why'd Eda just shut the door?"

"...Huh." Lucia lightly pinches her chin with her index and thumb.

"You got a point."


	2. Chapter 2

"So..."

"Where are we going?" Lucia asked as she scans the dim-lit street, the lampposts shining orange-y light onto the pavement. Both women were walking side by side, walking to who-knows-where.

"I've been texting Amelia and she told me if you and I would go out tonight, we better go to this local coffee shop that's around 10 minutes away from the apartment complex. She said she desperately needs the extra pay." Wionna proceeds to push her glasses onto the bridge of her nose.

"That actually sounds very nice of you." Lucia joked and chuckled as Wionna grabs her head and aggressively shoves it down.

"Lucia, I'm not like those selfish billionaires, you know. If I had the money to help others, I would." Lucia proceeded to fix her worn-out beanie.

"I'd call you an asshole for shoving my goddamn head down, but I'll let that slide for tonight."

\--------------

The two women stood before the small coffee shop. Both scanned the area for a while. There were two tables with 2 chairs each on the outside of the shop, a small window, and a see-through door. The area had a nice outdoor roof, covering said tables. Fake vines and real, small plants were seen scattered neatly around the area and some hanging lamps coming from the ceiling. The place was nicely lit.

"Wow." Was all Lucia could muster out.

"How did I never know about this place?!" Lucia, now facing Wionna with pure excitement and lightly jumping.

"You never really went to this part of the area, you know. You go to class, we hang out at Eda's place, then I go home while you get high or something."

"Okay, good point." Both stood there in silence again. Lucia looked at the sign, presumably the name of the shop.

_The Hideout._

"What are we waiting for?! Let's go in!" Lucia immediately dashed for the door, leaving Wionna outside. A sigh leaving her lips as she slowly walks to the door, following Lucia behind.

Lucia's first initial reaction was to freeze up as soon as she set one foot into that coffee shop. The floors, walls, and ceiling were all wood, tables were neatly spread across the area, - some having 2 chairs, some having up to 6 - there were 3 bookshelves seen with various amounts of books and figurines on them, the same hanging lamps were seen but now there are also hanging, glow in the dark, space objects - each with colors like light blue or a light purple. Fake candles were set on each table, even the counter had some fake candles. The coffee machines were at the back of the dark-colored wood counter, while - of course - having the cash register on top. There was also a door that Lucia assumes to be the bathroom. As of now, she only sees two people working, one by the counter and one doing waiter-things. And there were at least 5 other customers there, some chatting and some on their laptops.

"Santa mierda..." Lucia whispers to herself as she hears the door open behind her. She feels a light tap on her shoulder.

"So...you just gonna stand there or are we going to sit down and order, _Noceda_?" Wionna smirks, knowing that Lucia isn't fond of being referred to her by her last name.

...

"Wionna, I'm starting to suspect you're taking advantage of me not wanting to call you an asshole today." Lucia squints at Wionna, who only continues to smirk and chuckle.

"Yeah, I _definitely_ am." She chuckles louder and proceeds to sit near the window. Lucia then follows.

Both sit in silence in the meantime, while both occasionally judge on what they should order.

"So..." Lucia silently cracks her knuckles.

"Where's this Amelia girl?" Wionna slightly looks up from her menu, then back down.

"She's probably in the back smoking since it's her break. Let's just wait for her."

\--------------

"Amelia, your break is over." The young man said as he stepped outside where Amelia was seen smoking.

"Already? That's a shame. I didn't even finish my whole pack yet." Amelia took another cigarette and proceeded to light it, ignoring the young man who stood beside her.

"You know, **_Blight_** , I can just do this" The young man pointed his phone at Amelia's face "and send this to your _beloved_ parents, right?" Amelia's eyes quickly widened as she threw away her cigarette and flipped off the young man before going back inside.

"Fuck you!" Was all Amelia could blurt out.

Amelia quickly grabbed some mint candy, took 2 into her mouth - hoping she wouldn't smell like cigarettes and teen angst - and went off to the counter. As she was scanning, looking for Wionna, she realized she forgot her pack out back so she went back to quickly snag them. Upon going out, she finds the same young man smoking her cigarettes. Eyes widening, she pushes the young man, making him lose his balance and fall on his bottom. Amelia takes her pack of cigarettes and goes back inside, leaving him in a cussing mess.

Amelia shoves the pack in her pockets and begins to scan for Wionna again. Once she sees her, she grabs her small notepad and pen and slowly dashes to the table.

"Hey." Lucia looks up at Amelia and scans her, hopefully stealthily. She still looks like what she saw in the picture, but more tired looking. And she smells like cigarettes...and mint.

"Hey, Amelia. What's happening? What's with the emergency?" Wionna asks without looking up from her phone.

"My fucking parents won't hand me money for the following months. They barely give me money I need to literally survive, now they won't send me anything until I visit them to 'talk things out'. It's honestly fucking bullshit. They just want me to bow down to their little egos because 'Amelia, you're a Blight, act like it'." Amelia scrunches the bridge of her nose while looking awfully tired and stressed out about the whole situation.

"I'm not going back to them. I don't want to. I'd rather get stabbed on the goddamn back and get shit on by a flock of birds than go back to them, Wionna." She tightens her grip on her notepad, visibly showing signs of possibly breaking down in the middle of the shop.

Silence filled the space for a while.

"Please, I just need some help." Amelia looked defeated as she looked down on the floor.

"Look, Amelia. Let Lucia and I order our drinks first, then I'll give you what I can, alright?" Amelia looked up, and quickly looked at Lucia, then back at Wionna. She nods and starts listing both their orders.

\--------------

It was very late in the evening. Amelia offered to close the store and let Wionna and Lucia stay for a while. Amelia took another seat from the other tables and sat with the two.  
  
"Anyways, Amelia, this is Lucia Noceda. She's a friend of mine back in the nearby community college until I moved to Hexside." Amelia looked at Lucia, scanning her outfit and her face.

"She looks kinda hot." Amelia blurted out, leaning her chin on her palm, and her elbow on the table. Lucia was visibly caught off guard at the comment.

"Uhm. I'm right here?" Lucia points to the ground and leans against the chair.

"I know. I'm not blind, _Noceda_." Amelia flirted again, winking at Lucia and giving her a small smile.

"Look, _Amelia_ ,don't call me 'Noceda'." Lucia began leaning a little forward towards Amelia, squinting her eyes.

"And why not?" Amelia interjected, also leaning closer to Lucia.

"Why do I need to answer that- Wionna, I knew this girl's an asshole." Lucia crossed her arms tightly and looked at Wionna, who proceeded to just shrug.

"I already told you, she _can_ be an asshole. But she's cool."

"Aw, you described me, a _disgraceful_ Blight, as 'cool'? You're so sweet, Wionna." Amelia then messes Wionna's hair, earning a very annoyed and audible grunt.

"I take everything back after you just did that." Wionna joked as she pushed her glasses up to the bridge of her nose.

"Come on, Wionna. You love me." Amelia teased.

...

Wionna looks at Amelia, slowly taking her glasses off.

"Ew."

\--------------

"Hey, Noceda."

"Don't call me that."

"Do you smoke?" Amelia then takes out her cigarette pack and hands it to Lucia. Lucia nods.

"I'm going on a quick smoke break outback. Need to clear my mind off things. I also want a hottie like you smoking with me, you know?" Amelia flirtatiously smirks at Lucia, giving her face a small blush.

"Uhm-" Lucia stutters until she is interrupted by Wionna.

"You two nicotine-addicted kids go outback. I'm gonna be on a call with a client in a sec." Wionna proceeds to take out her phone and raises it right next to her left ear.

"I'm older-" Both interjected until Wionna cut them off with the sounds of her talking with her client. The two 'nicotine-addicted kids', as Wionna just called them, looked each other in the eyes, and stood up to go outback.

\--------------

Amelia takes out her lighter and lights up her cigarette, immediately taking a hit from it. The back area of the coffee shop was much grimmer than the coffee shop itself. There were barely any soft yellow lights that hung from the ceiling. Instead, it was just one occasionally flickering light bulb on top of the doorframe. The chain-link fence was also slightly torn, with some cuts of the chain here and there. The area smelled like trash and cigarettes. It was definitely a sudden mood change. It was eerie, to say the least.

"Hey, hottie." Lucia snaps back to reality, and subconsciously facepalming after realizing she just replied to being called 'hottie'.

"You just gonna stand there or what?"

"I...uhm..." Lucia begins to frantically check her pockets.

"Ah, fuck. I don't have my lighter with me." Amelia looks back at Lucia, takes a cigarette from the pack, places it between Lucia's lips, and lights the cigarette with her already lit cigarette still in her mouth.

"There, now let me fulfill my dream of smoking with a hot girl, Noceda." Amelia went back to her spot by the fence, looking off into the distance. Lucia stood dumbfoundedly, then slowly walks towards Amelia, while exhaling the intoxicating smoke.

Both smoked in silence side-by-side for a while. Amelia didn't really hope for the 'hottie' she wants to smoke with to be chatty, right?

  
"Noceda."

...

"Lucia." Lucia turns her head towards Amelia and hums.

"You're...er...Luz's older sibling, right?" Lucia slightly widens her eyes, wondering how Amelia knows her little sister.

"I am, actually."

"Oh, cool." More smoke fills the air.

Silence again.

...

"My little sister keeps talking about Luz. She keeps telling me she doesn't like her, but I can sense it." Lucia tries to remember if Luz has talked to her about any girl she's been friends with besides Wionna's younger sister, Willow.

"Her name's...Amity, right?" Amelia takes another hit and nods, still looking off into the distance.

"Yeah, that's her."

...

"I miss her."

"Who?"

"My sister, Noceda. I miss Amity. And maybe also the twins, but I especially miss Amity, alright?" Amelia slightly raises her voice at the end of her sentence. She rubs her temples and takes another cigarette to light up.

Silence fills the air.

Smoke also fills the air.

And...

Sounds of sniffling?

Lucia tried to look at Amelia, until being interrupted immediately with the sound of the chain-link fence being hit by Amelia's fist.

"Don't fucking look at me. Just smoke, alright?" Amelia blurted out in the middle of all the sniffling as she struggles to put her cigarette back between her quivering lips with her shivering fingers.

...

"Alright." Lucia softly muttered and continued smoking in silence.


	3. Chapter 3

A faint cry was heard from the Blight parents’ bedroom. Amelia, on her feet, begins to grow curious and searches for the source of the crying. As she slowly creeks open the door, she sees a little basket on the bed. As she approached the basket, the crying started to get louder.

\--------------

“Annnndd, there.” Wionna hands out at least $500 to Amelia and places it on her hand.

“Thanks, really. I promise I’ll repay you at some point.” Amelia stuffs the money into her pocket.  
  
“You better let me copy from you in the following tests.”

“You got it.” Amelia gives Wionna a wink. Wionna sighs heavily at the gesture.

“Hey.” Amelia faces Lucia, who has been looking at her for a while.

“Thanks for smoking with me, hottie. We should do it more, sometime~.”

…

“Noceda?” Lucia snaps back, looking at both Wionna and Amelia.

“Oh, yeah. Definitely.” Lucia awkwardly finger guns at Amelia, which made her chuckle at the incredibly awkward and unnecessary gesture.

“You know what? Give me your phone real quick.” Lucia freezes for a moment, until she reaches for her phone, types in the password, and gives it to Amelia. She quickly types something on Lucia’s phone and gives it back to her with her phone shut off.

“What was that?”

“You’ll find out later.” Amelia winks, earning an eye roll and a hint of blush from Lucia.

The three parted ways and went off. The night fell cold and lonely. It was dark even if the lamp posts were lighting up the pavement with an orange-y tint.

\--------------

A door slam surrounded the tiny, depressing room. Amelia leaned over against the door and slid down into the floor while preparing to light another cigarette. The room smelled awful. It smelled like cigarettes and the mixture of cheap, scented candles as an attempt to make the room smell better, but ultimately failing. The walls were this dull white color, the floors were covered in filthy, grey carpet. A bunch of mint candy wrappers and cups of empty coffee were seen across the floor. There was a dark green-ish brown sofa in the middle of the room, with one unwashed pillow and a grey weighted blanket she was gifted when she was younger. There was an old and messy coffee table in front of the sofa, riddled with various packs of cigarettes, a few unlit candles, and two filled ashtrays. There was a small trash can by the sofa, also filled up with a bunch of cigarette packs and junk food wrappers. There was a ceiling fan above, but the fan doesn’t even work, she just hopes the window behind the sofa has the wind to cool up the room a bit. The apartment didn’t even have a bedroom, just a depressing living room, and a small bathroom.

“Home sweet fucking home, I guess.” Amelia takes a hit of her cigarette, adding to the awful smell that already lingered around her apartment, and takes out her outdated phone.

_Hey, Amelia. How was your day? : )_

She realized Amity had texted her a few hours ago when her shift supposedly ended. And despite the depressing place she physically and mentally is in, she feels a little lighter knowing Amity still genuinely cares about her. But what does she know? Does she know how much Amelia has let herself go? Does she know that her big sister that she looked up to now has to ask for money from a friend who sells weed on her campus?

_hey amity. sorry i didnt respond earlier, i was out with friends. today was alright as always. anyways how are u and the twins_

Amelia stood from the ground and looked for some somewhat fresh clothes by her sofa. She picks a black tank top and shorts and proceeds to dash to her bathroom. As she flicks the light switch, she’s met with her bathroom - which is just as equally depressing as the living room.

White tiles spread across the floor up to half of the walls. The remaining walls were painted a light slate grey. There was a small sink with a cup and a toothbrush next to the faucet, the mirror was slightly dirty with fingerprints and a few shatters. The toilet was surprisingly the cleanest thing in the entire apartment. Even she finds not taking care of the toilet to be incredibly uncomfortable for her. Her shower only had a light blue curtain to cover her. The showerhead is slightly broken, her hair products are on the floor, and water pressure can be awful.

…

Amelia sighs and proceeds to get ready for a quick shower after days of not even thinking of bathing.

\--------------

“Eda! ¡Estoy en casa! Oh yeah, she isn’t home-” Lucia stood amongst the empty apartment room as she made sure to lock the door this time while repeatedly feeling the doorknob’s lock if it’s been pressed.

“Well, since Eda isn’t around” Lucia looks through a stack of vinyl she’s bought from pickpocketing with Eda in the past. She picks one with Current Joys Live at Kilby Court, takes off the vinyl from the pack, places it nicely on the record player, then she lets the music play. The first song was Kids.

_Oh, I am just a kid  
I never use my brain  
I only use my heart  
And my imagination_

Lucia takes a cigarette from the packs on the table and lights one up, bringing them to her lips. She takes off her jacket and beanie, letting her hair fall. She takes her phone from her pocket and searches for whatever Amelia typed in. As she continues searching, she sits down on the sofa and spots Amelia’s name on the notes app.

_It’s Amelia’s phone number._

Lucia’s face gets a small tint of blush, grunting at the sight of Amelia’s note.

“Ugh, god. What’s up with this woman.” Lucia proceeds to add her to her contacts lists. Lucia opens up the messages and texts her.

_hey whyd u add ur number on my phone??_

Lucia slowly leans against the couch while music fills the room as she waits for a text back.

\--------------

“Amelia, what in god’s name are you doing here?” It was the voice of an older man. He sounds furious.

“Amelia, didn’t we teach you not to barge into other people’s rooms?” This time, coming from an older woman.

But it all seems like a blur. Amelia was holding a small baby in her arms, and all she could do was melt. She felt lighter, despite only meeting this baby for a minute or two.

“Amelia, out of the bedroom, **now**.” The grown man, her **father** , grabs her by the shoulder and pulls her out of the room while her mom takes the baby.

“Wait!” Amelia yells as her father was about to close the bedroom door.

“What is it this time?” Her father stood before her, eyes piercing her very being.

“What’s their name?”

…

“Amity.”

Then the door was slammed shut.

\--------------

It’s been an hour since Amelia texted Amity back, but there hasn’t been a reply. She lies down on her side, blankly staring at her screen, just hoping for a text back. Then, her phone vibrates, indicating that she’s gotten a notification.

“Amity?” Amelia fumbles and sits up. But it was just Lucia. Her heart sinks as she flops back down on her sofa. She opens up the message, looking annoyed and defeated.

_why not_

Amelia manages to reply but starts to grip onto her phone and throw it across the room in frustration. Amity has been one of the only people keeping her sane and afloat. It’s not that she blames her for not replying back, things have just gone really tough these past few days. And she shouldn’t be relying on her sister to make her happier, anyway.

She groggily gets up, snatching her phone back, and flops back to her previous position.

“Come on, Amity. It’s only 10 pm. I just need to know if you guys are okay.” She whispers to herself, holding back tears.

Another vibrate from her phone.

Her heart skips a beat from it, then realizing it’s from Lucia again.

_ugh sure >: ( anyways how are u?_

Amelia starts to laugh loudly, finally filling the room with some sound. But her tears are now dripping from her cheeks. Her hand starts to grip onto her freshly washed hair and grips it harder. She wipes her tears with her palms and shakily texts back.

...

_im doing wonderful, noceda~_


	4. Chapter 4

“Dads,” The front door closes softly, emitting a quiet click. “I’m home.”

“Wionna, dear, I’m glad you made it back home.” One of her dads gets up from his seat and hugs Wionna. She doesn’t hug back, just stands there.  
  
“Where’s dad?”

“Oh, your dad is in the bedroom now. Work’s been extra tiring today, so I just told him to go sleep without me while I wait for you to come home late again.” He places his hand on Wionna’s shoulder and grips it. Wionna lightly nudges it off.

“I’ll be going up now.” Wionna walks past her dad and proceeds to go up the stairs.

“Goodnight, dear.”

Wionna scans the small hallway. There are 4 doors, each to their own bedroom and a single bathroom. The farthest door on the right near the old painting of the family is the bathroom, while the 2 doors on the left are her dads’ and her little sister’s bedroom, while her bedroom is on the right. She goes for one of the doors on the left.

“Hey.” Wionna slowly opens the door and peeks. “Willow, you up?”

Willow, who seems to have fallen asleep on her desk filled with scrunched up paper, responds with an annoyed grunt which surprises Wionna. She walks into the dimly lit room - the lamp on the desk only being the source of light at this point - and scans for a while. The room was small. The ceiling is painted white, the walls this light desaturated green with their drawings spread across the bottom of the walls, and the floor in this dark brown wood. There was a window with a small seating area containing a few small plants they have been taking care of. Her bedframe was also as white as the ceiling, while her pillows and blankets being neatly tucked in. Her bedside cabinet only has her glasses case. She also had a small coating rack with her clothes neatly hung up on the wall opposite her bed.

Wionna steps closer to scan the desk more. Crunched up paper everywhere and her books and pens all messy and sprawled out, some on the desk, some on the floor.

“Hey, Willow. You alright?” Wionna asks, despite Willow obviously not looking alright. She places a hand on Willow’s shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. A few sniffles were heard here and there.

“I got a failing grade on my test today and our dads got really mad at me.” Willow slowly looked up at Wionna, eyes red and heavy from all the crying.

“I really tried this time.” Wionna couldn’t keep her cool, so she slowly hugs Willow into a loose hug.

“Look, Willow. I know you tried your best. I’d sometimes walk in on you studying at like, 2am. Just know that I’m very proud of you.” Willow suddenly pulled back.

“You walk in on me?”

“Uh. Yes.” Willow jabs Wionna’s arm hard and begins to laugh.

“I’m gonna keep that in mind and lock my door.”

Silence filled the room for a quick second.

“Anyways, it’s 11pm. You better go to sleep.” Wionna pokes Willow’s lenses and storms off, leaving Willow annoyed and needing to clean her glasses again.

\--------------

“God.” Wionna leans onto her door.

“Fucking.” She slowly slides down.

“Damn it.” She grips onto her hair with both her hands in frustration.

Her room had the same color scheme as Willow’s, without the nice window, though. The room smelled like lavender. Wionna’s bed seems to be the only thing very messy. But despite that, both siblings are very well organized and keep their room clean.

But despite the welcoming nature of her room, she’s still pissed.

Wionna has been there before. Her dads basing her self-worth on her grades. They’d used to not feed her until she got an amazing grade. Obviously, they’ve calmed down their act after getting Willow, but it’s still affecting them greatly. Don’t get me wrong, they’re great dads. Both **did** graduate in community colleges, but they did with above-average grades - one of them being the magna cum laude. They just wish their dads saw them as more than just a trophy.

They were never vocal about it. They’d be extremely friendly with the teachers whenever they heard about their grades, then yell at their daughters when they get home.

They finally shut up when Wionna got amazing grades in college, but that’s just because she’s been cheating with her clients.

“I don’t want Willow to go through what I did before, and I don’t want her to be some weirdo drug dealer to kids at college just so I can get good grades.” Wionna whispers to herself.

She stands up and walks to her bed, gets down on one knee, and gets a small chest with a lock. She reaches for her back pocket and gets her key, opens the chest to find some small packs of marijuana. She counts them.

_2...4...6...8_

She sighs in relief as her chest feels lighter, knowing that her hiding spot is still effective.

“Can’t forget these for tomorrow.” She takes two packs and shoves them into her jacket’s secret pocket which is located at the inner backside of the jacket. She takes her jacket off and hides it under her pillow. She locks her chest and pushes it far into the underside of the bed.

She gets to bed and takes her glasses off, setting them on the cabinet.

“Goodnight, I guess.”

\--------------

_Hey, Luz._

Willow is on her bed, chatting with some friends and completely ignoring her sister’s advice that she should be sleeping.

_heya willow! whats up?? :D_

_Nothing much. Just upset about the test._

_dont worry willow we’re all here for you alright_

_now i gotta go to bed, my mama might hit me with another chancla. night willow!_

She sets her phone down and stares at the ceiling for a while, waiting for the night to drift her away. As time passes by, her eyes begin to turn heavy. She doesn’t fight it, and she finally takes her sister’s word and just sleep.

“Goodnight, I guess.” She mutters and drifts away into her sleep.


End file.
